National Park(ing) Day Wrap-up

National Park(ing) day in front of the office of Schemata Workshop was a great success! Toddlers from a nearby daycare brought a great energy early on in the day, leaving playful sidewalk chalk artwork in their wake (not to mention the extra cookies from their snacktime, which powered the staff through the morning work).

The brown-bag lunch saw many passers-by sitting at the picnic tables under the shade of umbrellas. It was great to experience this temporary streetscape culture on the north end of 12^th Ave while chatting over lunch.

Later on we were visited by two fellows making a pilgrimage via bicycle of all the Park(ing) Day parks in the area, as provided by Feet First, who also help facilitate the street permit applications and signage and cone rental. More info about that great organization here: http://feetfirst.info/

Again, thanks to our friends at Ragen and Associates for providing landscaping http://www.ragenassociates.com/ , and Eltana Wood Fired Bagels for providing the Happy Hour Bagels! http://eltana.com/

Eltana Bagels -- Because it's a Long Way to Montreal

There is something quintessentially urban about the bagel, at least that's my own romantic musing. Perhaps its Eastern European, Jewish origins make it somewhat exotic, or maybe it brings up memories of the East Coast and its larger metropolises. Better yet, it is probably because it is only in a city that one can hope to find a decent one! Sold in super markets and bakeries alike, most bagels (in both cities and suburbs) are based on the misconception that if you use bread dough, form it into a circle, and put a hole in it -- you have a bagel. City dwellers have generally experienced better, except for those of us living on Capitol Hill, where, much to my chagrin, we had not a decent bagel joint. That has changed, thanks to Eltana (http://eltana.com). I will not purport to be  culinary critic, but do encourage you to pay them a visit, and give them a try. I suspect you will be pleased. The bagels are hand made on the premises, and baked in a wood fired oven, making them the so-called Montreal Bagel and the favorite of Eltana proprietor Stephen Brown.

[caption id="attachment_950" align="alignnone" width="700" caption="The Wood Fired Oven"][/caption]

The shop is located in the newly opened Packard Building, in a space designed by friends and colleagues Graham Baba Architects (http://www.grahambaba.com/), whose office is just down the street. Built with a lean budget indeed, the space none-the-less has a couple of noteworthy touches that revealed the ingenuity of their designers: a blackened steel wood storage bin as well as a clever way of displaying the aesthetically pleasing bagels.

[caption id="attachment_961" align="alignnone" width="700" caption="Blackened Steel Wood Storage Bins"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_951" align="alignnone" width="700" caption="Just Look at Those Beauties. Cool Rack, Too."][/caption]

Back of house there is the wood fired oven, while up front are some bar seats with views to 12th Avenue and a large,  centrally located , rustic family-style dining table.

[caption id="attachment_953" align="alignnone" width="700" caption="The Dining Area"][/caption]